FOOD!!!

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

As someone who lived with my fiancée in Russia for a year, the answer is 100% yes!

Having just returned to the States, I miss my Alla's and her mom's cooking. They taught me to try and eat things I turned my nose up to for years. "Jeffery, you must study to eat useful foods!".

A classic taste shock was liver. I have NEVER liked liver. I have tasted it here for years and every time, it was quickly spit out. My Alla 'convinced' me to give her mom's a try. With permission to toss it, I agreed. Well... not only was it very tasty but I asked for more.

Alla's cooking has never caused me to gain a kilo and only maintains my form and energy level. Trying to return to eating fast food and my former 'Americanized' diet has not been received well by my digestive system. Every time I call my Alla, I ask her, what did you have for supper? I will be VERY happy to enjoy her tasty cooking again!

We have already agreed that when she arrives, we will indulge in fast food no more than twice a month. I do NOT have a problem with that!

[visceral image 0]

I started changing my diet even before meeting my Sweetie. My old diet in the states was meat, potatoes, fast food, pizza, mexican, etc. When I moved to Russia in January 2007 I was 193 lbs. That changed fairly quickly to 175 with 10 kilometers of walking each day. I have moved back to the states to start a new life for my family but the diet has not changed back to my pre-russia diet.

Now I have changed my diet even more; eating more veggies, fish (only cooked, can not do the raw or pickled yet), less meat and much less food. I am down to 159 with only 19 more lbs to go.

Edited September 2, 2007 by John & Alla

[slim 1,514]

I started changing my diet even before meeting my Sweetie. My old diet in the states was meat, potatoes, fast food, pizza, mexican, etc. When I moved to Russia in January 2007 I was 193 lbs. That changed fairly quickly to 175 with 10 kilometers of walking each day. I have moved back to the states to start a new life for my family but the diet has not changed back to my pre-russia diet.

Now I have changed my diet even more; eating more veggies, fish (only cooked, can not do the raw or pickled yet), less meat and much less food. I am down to 159 with only 19 more lbs to go.

Wow! My dad had to develop a tumor to get that kind of weight loss!

[visceral image 0]

I started changing my diet even before meeting my Sweetie. My old diet in the states was meat, potatoes, fast food, pizza, mexican, etc. When I moved to Russia in January 2007 I was 193 lbs. That changed fairly quickly to 175 with 10 kilometers of walking each day. I have moved back to the states to start a new life for my family but the diet has not changed back to my pre-russia diet.

Now I have changed my diet even more; eating more veggies, fish (only cooked, can not do the raw or pickled yet), less meat and much less food. I am down to 159 with only 19 more lbs to go.

Wow! My dad had to develop a tumor to get that kind of weight loss!

No tumors but I also do not look pregnant any longer. First 20 pounds was easy, near starvation because I was out in the forest (Taiga of Russia) with no way to get food; other than the limited supplies I had. Spent six months at about 175.

I went from 175 to 165 fairly quickly because of my visit to Alla, two weeks ago.

The drop from 165 to 158 (currently, as of this morning) has been more difficult. I want to be down to 140 before I return to see her in three weeks; maybe I need to pickup the exercise a bit more; it would be difficult to reduce the amount I am eating any further.

Then again, maybe 140- losing 18 pounds in three weeks- is a bit unrealistic; maybe better to set a goal of 10 more pounds; down to 148. Thoughts to share?

Edited September 3, 2007 by John & Alla

[slim 1,514]

I started changing my diet even before meeting my Sweetie. My old diet in the states was meat, potatoes, fast food, pizza, mexican, etc. When I moved to Russia in January 2007 I was 193 lbs. That changed fairly quickly to 175 with 10 kilometers of walking each day. I have moved back to the states to start a new life for my family but the diet has not changed back to my pre-russia diet.

Now I have changed my diet even more; eating more veggies, fish (only cooked, can not do the raw or pickled yet), less meat and much less food. I am down to 159 with only 19 more lbs to go.

Wow! My dad had to develop a tumor to get that kind of weight loss!

No tumors but I also do not look pregnant any longer. First 20 pounds was easy, near starvation because I was out in the forest (Taiga of Russia) with no way to get food; other than the limited supplies I had. Spent six months at about 175.

I went from 175 to 165 fairly quickly because of my visit to Alla, two weeks ago.

The drop from 165 to 158 (currently, as of this morning) has been more difficult. I want to be down to 140 before I return to see her in three weeks; maybe I need to pickup the exercise a bit more; it would be difficult to reduce the amount I am eating any further.

Then again, maybe 140- losing 18 pounds in three weeks- is a bit unrealistic; maybe better to set a goal of 10 more pounds; down to 148. Thoughts to share?

You're being a little unrealistic, not to mention, unhealthy. Think - Oprah. You may lose that 18 pounds, but at what cost, and is it really lost? Better to set the realistic goal of more like 6 pounds. Keep in mind also, it's not the weight so much as the size and fitness level. You've already lost a significant amount of weight.

Don't stop trying to be healthier, but maybe you shouldn't focus so much on the scale as you should your run/walk time or distance, or maybe a target heart rate, etc. You're already in great shape!

[visceral image 0]

Thanks for your thoughts Slim

I do better when I set a large goal, even if I do not achieve the goal I will work harder trying to reach a bigger goal than I will trying to reach a minimum goal. I think I will be lucky to lose the 6 lbs you mention but I will do that by working to the bigger goal. Just my way of setting and achieving goals

[slim 1,514]

Also, keep in mind my screen name is slim and my nickname is pirazhok. (Or, maybe kolobok may be more accurate.) Either way, I'm somewhat of a fat@$$ so I don't know if I'd listen to me when it comes to weight loss.

That said, I've had plenty of training on it. I'm actually in pretty good shape (round is a shape, right?) for a chubby guy and can outrun just about any of the skinny-minnies I work with. I've made the conscious choice that being 20 lbs. overweight is a small price to pay for enjoying pizza, hamburgers and beer. Lots of beer. I'm also a little bit of a choco-holic, so again, like Oprah, take my advice about weight loss with a grain of salt. (No pun intended.)

[visceral image 0]

you are always welcome to your opinion; I welcome it, even when it is wrong